There's No Place Like Home...

...as Dorothy would say about her home in Kansas.  We decided to experience the sunflower state in a way that very few people do.  We spent most of the day driving US Route 24 through the northern half of Kansas.  What's great, the state provided us with a guide of this route through what is called the Solomon Valley.  There were literally a dozen or more little blue kiosks with ample room to pull off and picnic tables along this route which told about the history, geology, and sites we were passing.  This area was settled after the civil war.  They were drawn to this valley because it was considered to be a Garden of Eden.  Today, the area literally feeds the world as witnessed by the farms that spread out as far as the eye could see.

We went through a number of interesting communities along this 200 plus mile deviation.  We passed through the town of Alton, the birthplace of Russell Stover, the famous candy maker.  We learned he was born in a sod house.  

We stopped in the town of Nicodemus, Kansas.  The whole town is a National Historic Site run by the park service.  This was the first and remains to this day, the only all African American Community West of the Mississippi.  At its peak, after the Civil war the community grew to over 600 people, but today comprises less than 50.  Another victim to the decisions of the railroad surveyors who bypassed this town.  The town was found by former slaves who came here looking for a better life since all the land in the South was already in use.  It was a very interesting stop.

Later in the day. We drove just 18 miles south of the Geographical center of the 48 contiguous United States.  There is a marker there, but we opted to pass on the drive north to stay focused on the main reason for our back road adventure, the worlds largest ball of twine!!!

The Ball, more like a blob as the kids called it, is located in the metropolis of Cawker City, Kansas, basically in the middle of nowhere!  It was a fun stop.  The ball is looked after by Linda Clover, who you call before you arrive and she meets you there at the ball to help you add additional twine and then record the addition for the official record.   She is full of stories of the odd and interesting people who have stopped by the ball and loved to tell stories and talk about the history of this oddity.   The kids had a tough time rating the day overall.  It was a 1 for the long drive, but a 10 for fun, as everyone played well together today despite the long drive and enjoyed the stops.   Although, they all agreed 2 or 3 more stops would have been better!

From there it was another hour and a half back down to the relative civilization of Interstate 70 and the town of Salina, where we spent the night at a nice KOA and the kids took a swim.